THEN
The basketball dropped to the ground without bounce as Anna stumbled back another step.
Caroline leaned forward with her ear cocked. "You can do what now? Hold it killer." She just missed grabbing Ethan by the arm as he strode to Sylas.
Anna shifted so she stood in front of Sylas her hands slapping on Ethan's chest. "Kelly."
"He lied to you."
"And we didn't lie to him?"
"To be fair neither of us asked one another if we picked up any supernatural powers since we last met."
"Not helpful." Cole shook his head at Sylas.
"Wait." Anna turned back. "Picked up. So you haven't had this your whole life?"
"Not that I was aware of." Sylas replied, still looking at Ethan with some regret. "I wasn't keeping it a secret; I thought I imagined it until you said something."
"So what, you were just walking around thinking you were a crazy person?" Anna shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sorry. Ok. When did you realize it then?"
Sylas leaned back a bit, "Well that's the thing isn't it? I think it was two years ago too. I was home one Saturday and Dad wasn't great so it was difficult to be home a lot. I was trying to figure out a schedule to balance school and starting a job to get out of the house more…anyway what I mean is I wasn't having a good day. I was in my room and I remember thinking how tired I was of the quiet. And my stereo turned on."
"What was the song?" Cole was once again elbowed, but this time by Caroline.
"I didn't think anything of it. But then when I got up to turn it off, it moved. When I had reached for it, its like it jumped towards my hand. And that, well."
"That would give you pause." Anna said as she paced.
"I spent the rest of the day sitting at my damn desk, looking at things and sometimes they would move, sometimes not. Sometimes they would shoot across the damn room. Or outside and down the street." He let free a small smile.
Anna froze "That's what you were working on." she whispered.
"What?" Sylas and the others looked to her.
"You said something moved outside and down the street, what was it?"
"A feather." He smiled again. "I don't know that I actually did that. Probably the wind since it was just floating about outside."
"No, I did that one. I went to your house the night after we found out what we were." Anna leaned back against the car and sighed when Ethan's glance shot to her. "Just down the street, I didn't knock or anything, but I thought about it when I saw you at the window. It looked like you were working or concentrating on something."
"Sure. The impossible. Trying to move my headphones from one side of the desk to another."
"Our whole afternoon that day. And I don't know, I was feeling a lot and then I saw this cardinal feather on the ground." Now Anna smiled. "It wasn't a skylark but it still reminded me of it so I thought why not, lets test this shit. And I made it fly over to you."
"It helped." Sylas reached for Anna's hand, ignoring Caroline and Cole making kissing noises.
"Ok, so you realized on what was to you a random Saturday that you have friggen superpowers and you what just shrugged it off the next day and went about your business?" Ethan asked.
"Not quite. I tried from time to time to see if I imagined it, or there were other times where I thought I made things move. But I mostly began convincing myself that it didn't happen. Or it least that it didn't truly happen. There's a certain level of mental illness that runs in my family so I pretty much assumed this was mine."
"Sylas." Anna gave him a light shove.
"I would have shared that with you eventually, but seriously how could I have not believed that?"
"We certainly struggled with it, but with each other." Caroline reached over to squeeze Sylas's arm. "That's nothing you should have gone through alone."
"Its not like it happened every day, I'd count maybe 3 times since the first. And always something subtle. I didn't even know that would work with the basketball until I tried it."
"Its definitely going to give us more to think about." Ethan kicked at the ball in question. "Why wasn't it as forceful with you and all."
"Maybe because we weren't all together. That's pretty much the basis of the prophecy and all." Cole chuckled at Sylas's expression.
"I need so much more information."
Anna looked to Caroline who nodded and clapped her hands together. "Right, why don't we head back to Holm house. These two can meet us there in a bit and we'll bring the 5th here up to speed."
Not waiting for an answer, Caroline looped her arm through each boy and steered them to Ethan's car. He held up one hand and Anna tossed the keys into it.
"Well this certainly isn't how I had pictured this going. I thought we were going to fight or you were going to take off running." Leaning against his truck, Anna looked up to Sylas as he faced her. "Can I ask you how you think it would have went if this all hadn't been the case?"
"If I wasn't apparently like you guys you mean?" He tilted his head. "It wouldn't have gone with me taking off. I'd like to think I'm a bit better than that."
"Of course you are its just. Well it's a lot."
"So is our history. This is just another thing." Sylas laughed at Anna's quirked brow. "Ok it's a bit more than that and I'm sure you're all about to fill me in on all of the complications that are going to come with this. But that means life has a complication, not us."
"I guess we'll see if it's as simple as that."
Sylas ran his hands up and down Anna's arms. "You came to my house that day."
"Not on purpose. I told them I wanted to be alone, and I did. But I guess my feet knew better." She placed both on top of his with a grin as his arms shifted to her waist.
"You could have come in."
"I really couldn't have." Now Anna smoothed the furrow that came to Sylas's brow. "You know what I mean. That's not where we were, and I couldn't involve you. Besides, I got what I needed. Seeing you soothed me. It always has, even when I couldn't do more."
"Well can we make a deal right now? No matter where this goes, who we are to each other doesn't change. I'm your first friend, and you're mine. We can always go to the other. Agreed?"
In answer, Anna reached up and pinched Sylas's chin. Smile spreading as he tightened his grip and danced with her feet atop his. Their shadows spun across the parking lot as the winter sun set.
NOW
As the sun set years ahead, Hayley wiped at her face. It was itchy now from tears that had been flowing and then drying, only to flow again as the story had played out. Hadn't this started with a wish just for this? To hear and tell a love story, a real one. Now she was living her own, while hearing of others, and somehow she felt blessed and achy all at once.
"You doing ok over there?" Ethan nudged her knee with his foot.
"Its just….lovely. Hearing of you all as a unit back then of course, but also your own circles." She met Anna's gaze. "You and Sylas."
Anna smiled, leaning over to take Hayley's face in her hands. "Sweet girl." With a nod she sat back. "Those days it was like a river. We just flowed along. There were bumps sure but we knew exactly where we were headed."
"We don't have to hit every bump again though." Ethan shifted as though he too still felt those bumps. "Sylas and Anna came back to my house and we caught him up on all we knew. He took it pretty well and for the most part was receptive towards everything."
"What was the exception?" Hayley wondered.
Ethan looked to Cole apologetically, though he only grinned back.
"Carlisle for one." Cole answered. "Sylas wasn't thrilled to hear that I had biological family that wasn't at that time in my life. He didn't like the sound of Carlisle holding back Edward."
"Sylas had been pretty protective of Cole from the get." Anna returned Cole's grin. "So any of those grumbles about Carlisle or the Cullen's, that's where they came from."
"Well then I like him just fine. What was the other?"
Anna sighed. "The Emissary. I'm not saying any of us liked the idea of them but if I had to pick someone who distrusted The Emissary's intentions the most, that'd be Sylas. He wanted nothing to do with them but there was no way in hell he was leaving any of us to deal with them on our own. So he did as they trained and engaged with them for that reason. For the same reason we all did really."
"Which is?"
"It was, that we never really had a choice." Ethan shook his head. "They had resources we needed and above all back then we needed to learn how we were going to survive this. Their intentions were for more than that, but it was years before we could even address that because until then we just had to get through the days."
Hayley tilted her face to Cole. "If you don't have a choice how come you're saying I don't have to meet the Emissary yet or ever if I don't want to?"
"Because we have that choice now. Because they don't call the shots." He told her.
"Not anymore." The three of them added, smiling grimly at one another.
The gravity of the situation rang in their tone and had Hayley remembering this wasn't just about back then and how it brought them to now. This ability wasn't just something they shared, it was something they were going to actively use. One these three she heard the story from had used to defend against God knows how many.
"And if we're being honest with ourselves we probably wouldn't be in that position if Sylas coming into the fold hadn't happened. If that hadn't set everything else off." Anna continued.
Hayley glanced over at Ethan. She recalled how he had said there was a part that wasn't his to tell. Cole had told her of the friendship. Ethan of the love. Now looking back at Anna she knew the third part, what Hayley had termed the action, wasn't just the telekinesis they shared. It was what they used it for. These were not just her friends and her relationship. These were soldiers fighting in a war she had yet to see. One she had yet to understand.
One she was in.
